Who has Electric Fans and Tows 10000# Plus

[tuckerd1]

Hey Guys, haven't been around much since the new Dodge, but I still have my 93 in my sig. I still have the cooling issues it had last summer and I still pull ~12000# when my son hauls his horses when we have too many for my trailer.

I plan on the Rodney Rad conversion, but was wondering what kind of results heavy haulers are seeing with the electric fan setups.

 

[DaveBen]

The stock fan moves a ton of air. Way more than an electrical fan. Your radiator maybe shot.

Dave

 

[subway]

yea the radiator might be getting tired, fan clutch is shot or something is off timing wise.

i am thinking of adding a pusher fan on top of my mechanical to help me keep my ac cold in slow traffic.

 

[Agnem]

I don't know what it weighed, but I towed the Moose Tail full of firewood to the 2011 IDI Weekend. I'd guess the truck, trailer, and wood probably weighed around 10,000 pounds. My electric fans never broke a sweat.

 

[oldblue05]

I know Rodney Reds are top of the line but I just bought one of these...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/3-Ro...=Year:1983&hash=item2c5d6a1701#ht_6992wt_1202

It looks to be of high quality materials, has lifetime warranty, and is the cheapest on the market, even has a 60 day refund policy where they refund your shipping expenses. Just my .02

 

[icanfixall]

Mel... Your running a differant radiator plus no ac. On top of that your 6.9 has a better cooling system than the 7.3 has. The lower corners of the head gasket has a open passage way that the 7.3 gasket don't have...

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

i don't "tow" heavy per say.but this should still help;
my truck (in sig) weighs about 8100lbs empty w/fuel and no passengers.
i carry regularly 2-3 ton on the back.i tow regularly a 1 ton lb chipper.
so im at 14-16k total very,very often (as in every day,to every other day often.this is a 100% full time use business only truck.-tree service.)
im running the dual ford windstar fans and they are pretty much overkill.
when on high,they will cool from 240 (if i let her get that high) down to 210 in 85 degree Maine summer temps (like now) inside 1 minute.
they don't need to come on very often.
pretty much only;
when the A/C is on.
when driving under 40 mph (for sure 25 mph zones creeping through towns)
and when going up a nice hill with a load on her.

no complaints or issues here,other than i can't wait for my variable rate controller to arrive,so the things stop cooling me off so fast.i don't like the fast temp drops.need to tone it down a bit.
however! these are not overkill in the winter when the plow is on.they're pretty dang near perfect then.

well maintained coolant system.
ready rad 3 row brass/copper radiator.(worked fine with the stock 4 row too of course.but it got so old and was leaking in a few spots.)
external add on coolant filter.
stock motorcraft 192 degree T-stat.
fleet charge coolant premixed with SCA's 50/50 with distilled water.
13 lb cap.

 

[franklin2]

I am sure the electric fans would cool if you got the ones that move enough air. Notice that was plural, you will need at least two of the type people are getting off the taurus and the Ford Windstar vans.

What they tend to leave out is all the support equipment this setup needs. The fans that move enough air, draw a lot of current, so much so, that you will need to get the alternator that also came on the vans that is 130 amp. I used the weaker aftermarket fans, and my stock alternator barely kept up.

Of course with the higher amp alternator, you will need a control to run the fans with some relays. And all this needs to be tied into the A/C if you have that.

I took my electric setup back out, and put brackets on my stock fan to lock it solid, and have been pretty happy with that. I like it being less complex than all the wiring the electric fans require.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

yeah, very good points Franklin.
well,Don's '93 will have the 3G alt already.
(this was added mid year '92 with the serpentine belt system.)
the ford windstar unit is a double fan setup from the factory,and will pretty much be a drop in,bolt in setup.all that's required is a making a double nutted bolt for a bracket on the top pass side,and a little shaving of the shroud.

a good controller is best yeah.iv been using cheap relays triggered with the a/c power(which is also defrost/mix) to kick 'em on/off.
works pretty decent actually,but just no need for full power.
anyway,the controller iv always wanted should be on its way soon.

the ford winstar units provide about 2200 CFM Each,for 4400 total.
i scored mine used, off ebay.

these also well known for lasting many,many,many miles before they burn up.
(replacement motors go for about 30 bucks on ebay too)
a much better track record than the failure prone stock fan clutches.
the problem with locking them up is,they rob a serious amount of power and use a lot of fuel.
Dave S once estimated 32 RWHP when locked.
i can't say,as iv never had a working fan clutch,and missed the boat on them locking up.
i went right to the electrics,after reading the tech article here,and seeing suppin was a wrong when i put a plow on last winter haha.
i wish someone would block off their rad on a dyno once to lock it up and tell us.
i should have posted a thread here before the rally and asked!!! ah dang.

 

[m67tang]

Now this is a mod I'm considering doing. Been looking at flex-a-lite fans. I believe it was a #298 or #295 with variable controls around $360 - $400 for everything.

 

[franklin2]

the problem with locking them up is,they rob a serious amount of power and use a lot of fuel.
Dave S once estimated 32 RWHP when locked.

I have heard that, but am not seeing it. I am sure it uses some power, why else would the factory put the clutch on it. If they could have saved a dollar on every truck they built, they certainly would. But 90% of the time unloaded, I am going along at about 1500 rpm in overdrive, and I notice no difference. Even at interstate speeds, I am doing around 2000rpm, and I am certain it's putting some drag on the engine, but I cannot even hear the roar till get up above 2200 rpm. And the only time I ever really get above 2200rpm is when I am pulling something hard in a lower gear, so it works out well for me.

 

[Agnem]

Mel... Your running a differant radiator plus no ac. On top of that your 6.9 has a better cooling system than the 7.3 has. The lower corners of the head gasket has a open passage way that the 7.3 gasket don't have...

This is true. I don't discount that one little bit. I think the factory fan has a hard enough time cooling a 7.3.

 

[icanfixall]

Mel.. This is why I'm thinking about using a 6.9 head gasket on my next build and removing the block and head plugs so they coolant flow can be increased theu the heads. I really cn't find out why Ford or international plugged up the heads and block in this special area. the 6.9 setup is open and it doesn't leak out of the block to heads mating surface. So I feel the 7.3 wont leak either... Sure wish I had a test truck with no sheet metal on it to run the leggs off it with this new idea. then if something did leak I could easily pull the heads and fix it.... Actuall ports in the 6.9 block and heads are kinda trianglar in shape so they are going to pass more coolant thn any 7.3 port will thru the head lower cooling system.

 

[Agnem]

I'm pretty sure the only reason they did it was because of the 6.9 gasket leak. I can imagine In 1986 or thereabouts, when the 7.3 was being planned, an engineering team meeting probably sounded like this....

Bob: "look... we've got this gasket leak issue due to rear cylinder EGR consumption. We need to either redesign the EGR, or do something about the gasket leak"

Tom: "Indy is working on the gasket issue, but there will not be enough time to fully test by product release."

Steve: "My team has looked at the EGR issue. We are thinking about changing the intake manifold to vent from a stand alone EGR valve to a centriploid outlet on either side of the intake centerline. But we can't guarantee even distribution because there will still be oil build up in the rear cylinders at rest. The guys in finance don't like it because of the part count and retooling costs. The EPA guy says it could take 6 months to get recertification."

Tom: "Bob, couldn't we just delete the gasket passage all together? I mean the 6.9 runs so cool as it is, do we really need redundant water passages right there?"

Bob: "Hmmm... didn't really consider that. We could do some flow models and..."

Jim: "We need a solution that we can impliment NOW and not have to worry about re-testing, re-compliance and re-tooling. What kind of changes are we looking at to impliment this? Would it definitely fix the leak?"

Tom: "We would have to plug the holes in the head. An insert could be made cheaply."

Read the rest in my forthcoming book... "how the IDI was invented".

 

[sootman73]

I replaced my radiator in the last year i had my truck. i went to the BG rally with it and the temp never moved in that truck. half the summer it was 3 gallons low on coolant and still never had any problems. I could have sustained EGTs of 1000-1050 and the thing wouldn't budge yet. the fan wouldn't ever have to engage.

I'm thinking that a properly upkept cooling system should do the job. even towing i had no problems. Just keep the revs higher then and then every system will fall into a better place....